Comments on: Denon AVR1610 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity

By: Jarrett

Jarrett — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:03:56 +0000

Review by Jarrett for Denon AVR1610 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity Rating: I picked this unit up from a local shop who highly reccomended this receiver and started my research. It does everything I want, switch HDMI, video, pass through video, and produces great surround sound!

My budget would be considered low to audio/video freaks, but I believe this receiver is the best bang for the buck! Currently I have: HD settop cable box, Blu Ray, Wii, and the boy's Click Start running through it. I love the HDMI switching for the simple fact that it allows me to run 1 HDMI from the receiver to the TV!

Thanks Amazon for having a review section which aided me in my research to purchase!

By: mcbrune

mcbrune — Fri, 14 May 2010 04:17:09 +0000

Review by mcbrune for Denon AVR1610 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity Rating: Bought this receiver a few weeks ago, still amazed at how good it sounds. I had a panasonic surround sound system, when the dvd player went out, i decided not to buy another player/surround system so that I can replace individual parts as necessary. I brought the denon home, connected it to my existing panasonic speakers, and my new polk sub and ran the audyssey set up. It sounds so much better than our old surround sound system. Music from my IPOD sounds absolutely great, it feels like i'm listening to the band live. Movies have also gained a new dimension, much more theatre like experience with sounds coming from places that I don't remember hearing them from before. I was worried that the 375 watts would not be enough to fill our large living space (18x30)ish, but it's more than enough sound for us. Haven't come close to cranking it all the way and it's plenty loud. Was debating between this and a pioneer, found this receiver for $300 even, and went for it, very happy that I did.

By: David Long

David Long — Fri, 14 May 2010 04:14:06 +0000

Review by David Long for Denon AVR1610 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity Rating: I've got this receiver set up between a Mac Mini and a Samsung 52" LCD TV. The quality of the image and sound is excellent and I'm very happy with the end product.
My only criticism is the relatively poor documentation that ships with the product. Getting the settings right was mostly trial and error and a lot of switching between menus looking for the right configuration.

By: Joe Miner

Joe Miner — Fri, 14 May 2010 04:04:30 +0000

Review by Joe Miner for Denon AVR1610 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity Rating: Since I'm brand new to the A/V world, I did a lot of researching before making my decision on which receiver to buy. I worked hard to figure out all the lingo and I checked out just about every option available below $400, including those with built-in DVD players, etc. I read every review I could find ([...] is great for this), posted questions on the AVS forums, etc. I'm very thorough when I'm spending a lot of money like this.

I didn't need a 7.1 system so I focused on 5.1 systems. Even though I'm only using a 2.0 setup right now (front left and right speakers only), I want to be able to add the other speakers and a sub in the future. So my review is only on my 2.0 setup. I can't provide any feedback on a full 5.1 surround setup.

One of the things I was looking for was upconverting (the ability to plug all of my components (HDMI, component cable, and composite) into the receiver and run 1 HDMI cable out to the TV for the video and speaker wires out to the speakers for audio). You can use the HDMI for audio too if you want to use your TV speakers, but if you're buying a good receiver, it just makes sense to buy some decent speakers to take advantage of it. Upconverting was essential for me since I'm mounting the TV on the wall about 15' away from the receiver and didn't want to buy lots of long cables for each type of input and then have to run them behind the wall. I was also looking for a receiver with lots of inputs to handle all of my components (HD DVR, Wii, DVD player, video baby monitor) and still have room to add more pieces in the future.

I'm happy to report that I am extremely satisfied with my purchase. The receiver does a good job of upconverting the analog video inputs and they all look pretty nice on my 46" LCD. The video from HDMI inputs looks amazing. For audio, I'm using Focal XL speakers and they sound great! They provide lots of bass and dialogue is nice and clear. I haven't run the Audyssey program yet because the TV isn't on the wall yet but it sounds great even without having run it. I will provide an update once I get everything in it's final place. I just wanted to get my initial review posted since there aren't many on Amazon yet and I wanted to let everyone know that this is an excellent choice.

The only drawback I can think of is that the manual isn't super helpful. You can find lots of help online, especially at batpig.com. Don't worry, it is a legit site. You can google it if you'd like. It is an excellent information resource for Denon receivers.

By: C. Mason

C. Mason — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:05:25 +0000

Review by C. Mason for Denon AVR1610 5.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver with 1080p HDMI Connectivity Rating: Based on a sub-$400 budget, I focused on this and the Yamaha 465. In researching it, a toss-up really emerged and the decision was made in talking to a very knowledgeable guy at Crutchfield. Having set it up last night and having played with it the better part of today, I am very content with my purchase. I fired up some Blu Ray's with both PCM and DTS-MA/ True HD and was very pleased with the upgrade over standard DD/DTS. The soundstage was just bigger. The opening scene from my kids favorite movie, Cars, was no longer weak. The opening race scene was clear and appropriately loud. The bump on my stars comes from the fact that the manual is awful. I gave up on it early on and went with the trial and error approach with the on-screen menu, which is more than adequate, but you need to have a basic tech sense in order to take that route. On another set-up note, the microphone setup is well done and made a big difference in the sound generated from my SS speakers, before versus after.